New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) After playing a pivotal role in Gujarat Titans’ qualifying for IPL 2025 playoffs with a ten-wicket thrashing of Delhi Capitals, left-handed opener B Sai Sudharsan said he hasn’t made much changes as a batter, but has become mentally better in tackling with situations.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, Sudharsan hit 108 not out off 61 balls – his second IPL century laced with 12 fours and four sixes, as GT chased down 200 in 19 overs. He was also supported by captain Shubman Gill making an unbeaten 93 off 53 balls – hitting three fours and seven sixes.

“I started to believe a bit more to be honest, the mindset point of view belief has gotten better. Don’t think not many changes as a batter but mentally I have gotten better. When I look at the spinners, maybe I can get better at striking them. After the 15th over I have a lot of things to work on, I’m keeping a check on that.”

“There’s a lot of understanding between us (him and Shubman Gill). Running between the wickets is one thing which we talk about and when I do a mistake he points out and similarly from my side as well,” said Sudharsan in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Asked on how he aced the chase, Sudharsan said, “It feels great to make the team win. I missed out quite a few times at doing so this season and in the break, I was thinking about it and it paid off today.”

“After the 6 overs, the 7-10 overs they bowled really well, the momentum went down, we were cool and calm enough to take the game deep. We got a couple of big overs from 12-13 which helped. Previous games I took chances and got out, but was aware enough to take the right matchups.”

Skipper Gill was a happy human after getting GT their third playoffs spot in four seasons.

“Feels great to be able to get that Q on the board. Still two important games for us, getting the momentum into the playoffs will be very important. Feels amazing, I have talked about this couple of times. When I’m batting, I want to play and think as a batsman, not as a captain. Last year was a learning for me as I was captain for the 1st time, the back end last season I learnt that.”

Asked on what was the training routine like in the time IPL 2025 was suspended, Gill revealed, “We were right back into the game, we were practising. Our fielding had been below-par, we had a bit of time to reflect on that and work on our fielding. Not much (gym work), actually I got sick, the break helped.”

He also had words of praise for his opening partner Sudharsan. “He has been in tremendous form this season, the way he has been able to convert the starts. You are seeing the conditions and the situation, we talk about finishing the game and not leave it to anyone else because on a wicket like this a couple of wickets could create pressure. At the halfway mark we felt we gave 10-15 runs extra, they batted well, the ball was spinning.”

Parthiv Patel, GT Assistant Coach, feels being a great batting unit has got them the playoffs qualification.

“We’ve played some really good cricket overall. It has been a reward for the way we worked over the last couple of months. The low risk cricket that they play is fantastic, they have the ability to hit down the ground.”

“We always talk about hitting sixes, but they win the game through hitting boundaries. What you don’t see is how much hard work they put in behind the scenes. The communicate really well, they batted brilliantly last season and they knew what they were doing. The opening pair is always about chemistry, about knowing each other’s game well.”

Asked if he will get head coach Ashish Nehra a chair to sit down and relax in the next game, Patel said, “No chance, because he is standing we are in this position. He has been fantastic. I have heard about the atmosphere being really nice in GT, and now that I’m here I can see it for myself. It is also about the hard work that we everyone puts in.”

Axar Patel, DC captain, lamented that the pitch became better for batting in the second innings. In DC making 199/3, KL Rahul made his promotion to opening count by hitting 112 not out, but that couldn’t save them from a ten-wicket thrashing to end their home run at Kotla with four defeats in five games.

“Obviously, the way they batted, if you don’t lose wickets, the chase becomes easy. I thought the wicket got better as the game progressed. I thought it was a par score, the way we finished, KL was superb, we thought this was a good score. The bowlers tried hard, but we couldn’t win today.”

“The way we batted was a big positive, need to improve our fielding and the bowling in the powerplay. The wicket got better in the 2nd innings, it was stopping and gripping in the first innings, but not in the second. Once a batter gets set, it becomes easier to bat.”

–IANS

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